Red Pepper Quilts on Etsy

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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

In my "studio" this week it has been all about small patchwork piecing, small scale prints and those much loved retro / 30's fabrics that I have been collecting so enthusiastically.

100 blocks ready to be sewn into a quilt top

I spent two days pulling fabric and cutting. Cutting strips of fabric until I thought I had enough for my quilt, and then some because for some reason I always have to go back and cut more fabric. Every time.

Despite the small patchwork pieces this quilt top came together really well. Each finished square measures 1.25 inches x 1.25 inches, and to make the construction process easier I have strip and chain pieced to my heart's content. And by that I mean that I have created 16-patch blocks like so:

The 16-patch blocks have been pieced using a simple strip set technique which eliminates the need to work with tiny squares; it is quicker and less fiddly, and in turn I find it more accurate.

A CHECKERBOARD ~ STRIP PIECING TUTORIAL

You will need 4 strips of fabric - 2 solid and 2 printed fabric strips - each fabric strip measuring 8 inches x 1 3/4 inches. I have used Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton in White as my solid contrast fabric, although I think that Kona Snow would be a good substitute and in keeping with the era of the prints.

And then you are ready to start sewing your units into 16-patch blocks. I pieced my blocks at random, choosing colors/patterns as pleased my eye, confident that in the end the overall scrappy blocks would work together well.

When sewing units together into 16-patch blocks

be sure to arrange the units the same way.

Consistently start with a printed (dark) fabric patch in the top left hand corner

thereby ensuring that all 16-patch blocks are pieced in the same way.

Press seams together in the same direction.Again ensure that all blocks are identical.

Example only - actual quilt top is 10 blocks wide by 10 rows.

Once you have enough blocks to make a quilt top simply arrange your blocks in rows, alternating the direction of the seams for every row. The arrows above refer to the direction of the final seam allowances of the individual blocks. By alternating the direction of the final seam allowance all of the other seams will also nest together and will make matching seams easy.

This tutorial is not all that different from my Postage Stamp Tutorial but as the fabric strip sets are smaller, and the seams have been pressed differently (due to the use of the contrasting white fabric), I thought that rather than send you there with a list of tutorial modifications, I would share this simple checkerboard technique with you here.

And in case you would like to work with smaller/larger patchwork units:

Cutting fabric strips from many different fabrics can be time consuming but if you plan ahead and cut a strip every you pull out a fabric eventually you will have enough to get started. Or dive into your scrap bin and start busting those scraps.

43 comments:

I made a postage stamp (extra large queen size) quilt my for bed. Unfortunately I didn't have this great tutorial (or really any idea what I was doing). I cut out each individual 2.5" square and then sewed them together. It was the second quilt I ever did. I love the result but next time I'm definitely doing it this way!

I love seeing those teetering stacks of color. It is one of my favourite things about quilting, seeing bits of color and pattern come together into sets and units and blocks and finally a quilt. Each part is a small goal. Something done eagerly to see the next part done, which leads on to the next. It sort of propels me along, that desperate love of seeing pattern emerge and shaking a finished quilt top out and unfurling it to the light.

That is very beautiful. I love the white every other square - it really highlights the chosen patterns and keeps the quilt from looking too busy. Being a new quilter, I would probably go with sixteen 13 by 13 squares - 8 fabrics, about 1.5 yds of white and would finish about the same size. : ) I'll have to work my up to smaller units. Plus - my stash needs to grow exponentially!

I'm bookmarking this tutorial. I love this quilt. I'm new to embroidery and quilting and no way ready for a large quilt but I would love to try this on one of my small projects (i. e. Wall hanging, mug rug etc.). Thank you so much. Now back to drooling over your beautiful quilts.